Eleven-year-old Jenna Anne Wilson of Garden City, who has suffered from ulcerative colitis for four years, will receive the prestigious Profile In Courage Award from the Greater NY Chapter of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America at the group's annual Michael S. Modell Memorial Awards Dinner on December 6 in New York City.

Also to be honored that evening at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Tower will be the chief executive of Professional Tennis for the USTA, Arlen Kantarian, who will receive the Dick Schaap Lifetime Achievement in Sports Award; Cantor-Fitzgerald chairman & ceo Howard Lutnick, who will be presented with the Humanitarian of the Year Award; and Modell's Sporting Goods president & coo, Bob Stevenish, who will accept the Man of the Year Award.

Jenna's Story

"Around the middle of second grade," says the 2006 Profile In Courage Award winner, "I lost a lot of weight and I felt very sick. I began to go to the bathroom several times a day and I bled a lot. Every night I would wake up and run to the bathroom.

"At first, the doctors did not know what kind of illness I had. I lost of lot of blood and felt very weak all the time and I did not want to have fun anymore. That was when I was first referred to a pediatric gastroenterologist.

"After a lot of tests, the doctors were able to narrow my situation down to Ulcerative Colitis. At first, the doctors tried to take a conservative approach and control the disease by giving me a few pills a day. However, my condition slowly worsened. I was then admitted to the hospital, where they put me on IV tubes, monitored my blood levels and gave me intravenous steroids. They were able to stop the bleeding and bring my blood level back to normal.

"Soon after, I was feeling better and I was released from the hospital and was able to go back to school. I was put on a routine of 10 pills per day. After eight months of being in remission, I had another flare up and was forced to return to the hospital for a second time. I had to go through the painful times all over again. It was at this point that I began to say 'WHY ME?' 'WHY CAN'T I BE A NORMAL CHILD?' It was my parents who pulled me through and reassured me that everything was going to be all right. This time the stay at the hospital was for only two days. I bounced right back into remission.

"It is almost a year now and I'm doing GREAT. I recently completed the five mile Breast Cancer Walk in Central Park - - I did it in two and a half hours - - and then performed with my dance class under the band shell. I jump, run and play all day. I am back to having fun.

"I want to thank the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation for choosing my to be their profile in courage winner and also the co-founders of CCFA, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Modell, and the many doctors and nurses who treated me. I hope that one day we will be able to find a cure for this disease."

About CCFA

The Greater NY Chapter of CCFA, which serves all five boroughs of NYC, secures donations and produces numerous fundraising events each year, which help support CCFA-sponsored medical research and education programs. In addition, it offers its members coping workshops, education seminars, mutual-help support groups and a variety of informative publications. All revenue generated at this function will sponsor research to find the medical cure for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

To purchase tickets or tables to this event, or for further information, contact the CCFA's Greater New York office at 212-679-1570. The foundation's website is www.ccfa.org.